1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fishing line spool holders, and more particularly to a fishing line spool holder that rotatably supports a fishing line spool for transferring a quantity of line between the spool and a reel and has adjustable means for controlling rotation to place tension in the line being unwound and may also be used to wind line from the reel onto a spool.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is desirable to wind fishing line onto a fishing reel with a constant tension force on the unwound portion so that the wound line will not be twisted and will not have portions that are loose and portions that are tight, which may cause a backlash when casting the line. Usually the person winding the line onto the reel will hold the reel in one hand and apply a slight pinching force to the line with the fingers of that hand as it is being fed onto the reel to keep tension in the line as he turns the hand crank with the other hand. However, the spool from which the line is being unwound must be rotatably supported in some manner.
It is a common practice when placing fishing line on a fishing reel to have one person suspend a spool of new fishing line on a horizontally held pencil or similar rod-like article while another person winds the line onto the fishing reel by turning the hand crank of the reel. The spool rotates loosely on the pencil or rod-like article and there is no way for the person holding the spool to control the speed of its rotation except by attempting to apply pressure on the side flanges of the spool with the fingers which is cumbersome and awkward. As a result, spool will sometimes be dropped or the spool will rotate freely causing the line being wound to become tangled, or at best, the wound line will have the undesirable loose and tight portions.
There are several patents which disclose various devices for holding a spool of fishing line, most of which support the spool on a non-rotating bolt having a wingnut at one end. The small diameter bolt is unsuitable for use with most commercially available fishing line spools which may have a bore as large as 5/8" in diameter. This loose fit allows the spool to hop or wobble as the line is being spooled off.
Barginear, U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,423 discloses a fishing line spool holder which is a U-shaped bracket having laterally opposed end plates formed of flexible material. The spool is rotatably mounted on a non-rotating shaft which extends between the flexible end plates and outwardly to each side. The non-rotating shaft is a small diameter bolt with a wing nut threadedly received on the opposed end. Spool rotation is controlled by turning the wing nut to draw the flexible end plates toward each other and frictionally engage the side flanges of the spool. However, this arrangement is difficult to adjust because the large surface area of both end plates contact substantially the entire surface of both side flanges of the spool and provide either too much friction or not enough friction. Also, because the end plates are fixed relative to each other, this device will only accept a very limited range of spool widths, whereas, commercially available spools of fishing line range from about 1" to about 4" in width. This device would be unsuitable for use with most commercially available fishing line spools which may have a bore as large as 5/8" in diameter because the loose fit would allow the spool to hop or wobble as the line is being spooled off.
Lewitt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,059 discloses a tensioning device for a fishing line which has an L-shaped base member and a smaller L-shaped traveling member which has its horizontal leg is slidably mounted in a slot on the horizontal leg of the base member to slide relative thereto. The spool is rotatably mounted on a non-rotating shaft which extends between the upstanding arms of the L-shaped members and outwardly to each side. The non-rotating shaft is a bolt with wing nuts threadedly received on opposite ends. Spool rotation is controlled by turning the wing nut to draw the upstanding arm of the traveling member toward the upstanding arm of the base member and frictionally engage the side flanges of the spool. However, this arrangement is also difficult to adjust because the large surface area of both upstanding arms contact substantially the entire surface of both side flanges of the spool and provide either too much friction or not enough friction. Alternatively, Lewitt discloses a rack and pinion mechanism and a spring mechanism for drawing the upstanding arm of the traveling member toward the upstanding arm of the base member. This device would also be unsuitable for use with most commercially available fishing line spools which may have a bore as large as 5/8" in diameter because the loose fit would allow the spool to hop or wobble as the line is being spooled off.
Haddock, U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,995 discloses an apparatus for applying fishing line to a spin casting reel which has a frame that carries a spindle which receives the spool of fishing line. The frame is releasably coupled by legs to the pickup cylinder of the fishing reel. A rubber or plastic grommet or keeper may be slipped over the spindle to retain the spool to keep it from dropping or sliding off the spindle, or to adjust line tension by applying pressure against the spool.
Hollack, U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,491 discloses a spool supporting device which has a horizontal circular base member with a tapered circumference. A suction cup is secured to the bottom of the base and a vertical threaded shaft extends upwardly from the center of the base. The spool is rotatably mounted on the shaft and a wing nut having a conical bottom portion is threadedly received on the shaft and frictionally engaged in the bore of the spool. A plurality of slotted fingers extend upwardly and inwardly from the tapered circumference of the base to engage the upper rim of the spool. The line is unwound axially from the spool (in the direction of the shaft) by tightening the wing nut to prevent spool rotation and pulling the line between the upper rim of the spool and the top ends of the fingers, or may be unwound in a tangential direction by loosening the wing nut to allow spool rotation and pulling the line through one of the slots in one of the fingers wherein spool rotation is controlled by turning the wing nut to engage the spool bore and adjusting the fingers to bear against the upper rim of the spool.
The outer surfaces of the flanges of commercially available spools of fishing line are not always perfectly flat, and the prior art devices which frictionally engage the flange of the spool have an inherent problem in that the spool is subject to alternate binding and free rotation as the line is unwound which causes uneven tension in the line. The devices which support the spool on a small diameter bolt are unsuitable for use with most commercially available fishing line spools which may have a bore as large as 5/8" in diameter. This loose fit allows the spool to hop or wobble as the line is being spooled off.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a spool holder for holding a spool and transferring a quantity of line under tension between the spool and a reel. The holder is a generally U-shaped member having a horizontal bottom wall and vertical side walls fixed in laterally spaced relation and each side wall has a circular aperture therethrough in horizontal axial alignment. Suction cups on the underside of the bottom wall releasably secure the holder to a support surface. A shaft is received through the bore of the spool and is frictionally engaged therein and has opposed ends rotatably mounted in the side wall apertures to rotate relative thereto such that the spool and shaft rotate as a single unit. Resilient members may be installed on the shaft for adapting the shaft to frictionally engage different size bores. One embodiment has an adjustable thumb screw which frictionally engages the shaft to apply resistance during rotation to maintain tension in the line when being unwound from the spool and transferred onto the reel and also has a hand crank connected to the shaft for rotating the spool to wind line back onto a spool from a reel. Another embodiment has a pair of adjustable thumb screws extending through the side walls in horizontally opposed relation with their inward facing ends movable into frictional engagement with the laterally opposed flanges of the spool to apply frictional resistance to the spool during rotation.